Rusev and John Cena were not reserved in repeatedly having referee Mike Chioda ask the other if he quit. In fact, they sometimes wanted their opponent asked multiple times in a matter of seconds. But one of the better uses of the question came before several big moves. Rusev started the trend, asking Cena if he quit, or else he would get whipped into the steel steps set up inside the ring. Cena pulled the same stunt before crashing Rusev through the timekeepers barricade and again before bashing the Bulgarian Brute with a metal barricade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf6F1hHFgJc The pre-emptive request was a cool wrinkle to the typical only ask if your opponent quits after every big move. By asking before a big, painful move, Cena and Rusev left it that their opponent only had himself to blame if he took the punishment. It also made the wrestler think about the pain that was coming if they answered, no. That, in some ways, is better than simply beating them to a pulp make them think about the beating thats coming.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
